<blockquote><p style="text-align: left;">"I do the work of justice not out of a disdain for the privileged but out of a love for Life." - <em>Womanist Theologian Dr. Kelly ...

<p>What lessons do we take away from the Jena 6 story? Six young men won't be dragging a felony conviction into adult life. That's <a href="http://blog.sojo.net/2009/06/29/the-jena-6-ar ...

<a href="http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/06/the-next-evangelicalism-interview-with-soong-chan-rah">[continued from part 1]</a></p> [continued from part ...

<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0830833609?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=sojo_blog-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0830833609">&l ...

Let the wall-to-wall Michael Jackson coverage continue. Let the wall-to-wall Michael Jackson coverage continue. As soon as I heard the tragic news about his passing yesterday afte ...

<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0024EWP6W?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=sojo_blog-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B0024EWP6W">&l ...

<p>It was hard to miss me on the lava-rocked streets of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, while I was working for a locally led organization, <a href="http://healafrica.org/cms/">HEAL A ...

Every day across America we see self-segregation in lunchrooms, in classrooms, and in church pews on Sunday morning. But how about online?</p> Every day across America we se ...

<p>I attended a majority white high school in the late '70s and since that time my life has been one cross-cultural bowl of spaghetti. It tastes good but is really messy, sometimes sauce all over yo ...

Words have consequences. In the past few weeks, we have seen just how dire those consequences can be. Words have consequences. In the past few weeks, we have seen just how dire ...

Raising one half-African son and one of mixed European descent posed both ordinary and unique parenting challenges for my husband and me. Raising one half-African son and one of m ...

Troost Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, has been dividing rich and poor, black and white, jobless and employed in this city since the days of Jim Crow when it was a legal line of segregation. ...

In this hour, amongst everything else that is on my mind, I am mindful of the 19th of May, 2009, marking the birthday of a mystic activist and voice of justice. In this hour, amon ...

"What do you mean by 'just one'? I'm not choosing just one!" I told my wife on the phone. "What do you mean by 'just one'? I'm not cho ...

In 1965, in a last minute move, the American Football League switched its All-Star game from New Orleans to Houston. In 1965, in a last minute move, the American Football League s ...

<blockquote><p>A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is his delight. (Proverbs 11:1)</p> A false balance is an abomination to t ...

This week's issue of <em>Newsweek</em> features <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/194592" target="_blank">a compelling article</a> about the evolution of race ...

There is much to be disturbed about in the recent revelation of the Bush administration torture memos. There is much to be disturbed about in the recent revelation of the Bush adm ...

No one is saying that Ted Stevens didn't lie about unreported contributions. But the government has to play by the rules even when the defendant is guilty. No one is saying ...

"Is colorblindness or multiculturalism better for minorities?" I missed <a href="http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/race/2009/03/is-colorblindness-or-multiculturalism-better-for-minorities.h ...

Last week, before the budget vote, I talked with several senators on the phone as they were about to cast their vote. The ones I spoke to were friends, and I told them that I was praying for them. ...

Well, March Madness is now over. Well, March Madness is now over. Every year around this time, there's a disturbing report or two highlighting the low graduation rates of Afr ...

<p>Last year Naomi Tutu and I met on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to keep vigil on the 40th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Friends joined us from around the cou ...

<p>John Hope Franklin lived through most of the twentieth century. He was a gentle man, a scholar, an activist, and a truth-teller. He studied history and he helped to make it.</p> ...

Last month, legislators in Hawaii introduced <a href="http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2009/bills/HB444_HD1_.htm">House Bill 444</a> (HB 444), which would provide rights and privilege ...

An <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-buying-black-09-mar09,0,5889126.story">article</a> in the <em>Chicago Tribune</em> caught my attention this week. ...

<p>The first three screenings of Tyler Perry's new film, Madea Goes to Jail, that I tried to go to last week were sold out. When I finally did get a ticket, I had one of the last single seats in the ...

Most of my life I have been thinking about race and religion -- as a child when my family left my native Costa Rica to move to inner-city New Jersey, as a teenager struggling to develop my faith an ...

Freedom is on my mind. In the case of South Africa, political freedom was achieved almost 15 years ago. It was a freedom from the heresy of Apartheid. Freedom is on my mind. In th ...

What?! Really... the editors of the <em>New York Post</em> thought this would work?</p> What?! Really... the editors of the New York Post thought this woul ...

Are you a coward? Chicken? When it comes to the issue of race, why are Americans [including Christians] so reticent and reluctant to engage in honest conversations? What are we scared of? ...

<p>With the bicentennials of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin the subject of numerous conferences, articles, and television shows this month, we also should remember another important commemoration in ...

<p><a href="http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=events.M2EP&amp;item=M2EP-bio-john-lewis"></a>I have been studying the civil rights movement for over a decade, and continue to ...

I moved to Tulia, Texas, in the summer of 1998, a year before <a href="http://blog.sojo.net/2009/02/10/the-war-on-drugs-in-tulia-texas/">a massive drug bust decimated the black side of town< ...

Beyond anguish, what can we say about the massive death and destruction in Gaza and the traumatic fear of falling rockets in Israel? Beyond anguish, what can we say about the mass ...

<p>It's a better country than I thought it was. I honestly wouldn't have thought this possible. I guess I would have agreed with the older generation of African Americans in my neighborhood: Th ...

I thought God -- the real God, the One who cares passionately about justice, peace, and diversity -- came out rather well in the inaugural ceremonies.</p> I thought God -- t ...

<p> God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far along the way, thou who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path, we pray, lest our feet s ...

The day after the inauguration, I will be joining with Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and Christian leaders at the National Prayer Service for our new president. The day after the inaugur ...

The first openly gay Episcopal bishop.</p> <p>The first female president of the Disciples of Christ.</p> The first openly gay Episcopal bishop. The first fem ...

Right now at Sojourners we are feeling the energy of all the activities planned around the inauguration-the concerts, worship services, <a href="../../../mlk">MLK day of service</a>, and ...

As my mother and I prepare to "Thelma and Louise-it" to travel to Washington for the Obama inauguration, my excitement is tempered with anxiety. As my mother and I prepa ...

You would think attempting to summarize my feelings on having been asked to deliver the Benediction at the Inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama-would be simple. In fact, it's quite a challenge; gi ...

We stand at what could be the greatest divide in American history. We stand at what could be the greatest divide in American history. America has come from Native American genocid ...

The dynamics of "violence begets violence" are simple and probably understood by everyone who has ever been in a fight. The dynamics of "violence begets violence&qu ...

I think it was sometime early in 2007 that I began to find myself almost possessed by a profound premonitory sense that the next year, this year, 2008, would be filled with a special power. ...

<strong>Jamie</strong>: We took a puzzle system of trains for about an hour or so until we pulled to an unexpected stop on the tracks, just feet from the platform of 125th Street. ...

<p>Odetta has gone home.</p> <p>Artists that touch our hearts help us to see, and they speak for us our own mute truth. A spiritual breath of courage and grace breathes through them and upon ...

<p><a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/photos/8/85a10c0c-9e7b-4486-8061-23d8ed3a444b.html?SITE=ALANN&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT"></a></p> ...

Since the historic election of Nov. 4, I have been part of discussions with college students and faith-based institutions that have experienced racial tension and intolerance on their campuses. ...